Red Sox at Tigers lineups: Will the real Eddy please stand up?

The Red Sox look to snap out of their deepest funk of the season when they meet the Tigers in Detroit for the second matchup of a three-game series behind the struggling Eduardo Rodriguez (7:10 p.m., NESN).

[Internal screaming internal screaming internal screaming internal screaming internal screaming internal screaming internal screaming internal screaming internal screaming internal screaming internal screaming]

So last night’s game happened, with Garrett Richards being pummeled again to the that in his postgame press conference he called this the worst season of his career. Fun! “Fun!” Also “fun” is Eduardo Rodriguez’s reversion to the Bad E-Rod, to the point that Boss Matt said on the Over the Monster Podcast that he’d lose faith in the man with a bad start tonight. Such a pronouncement seems years in the making, as Rodriguez’s yo-yoing between good and bad, injured and healthy, seem to have defined his career, and he may simply exist in an inexorable state of entropy rather than be a good pitcher who gets unlucky in a whole bunch of ways. Obviously we hope this isn’t true, despite our occasionally sour notes. Or: Plz, Ed.

Trade deadline acquisition Kyle Schwarber once again does not make his Sox debut, leaving Boston short of a new face in the lineup yet again as they search for a spark to turn things around. It should be tough sledding against Casey Mize, the No. 1 overall pick a few drafts ago and a budding star, though the Sox have handled tough sledding before. If tonight feels different going in, it might not feel different coming out. They can hit good pitching. The question is: Will they?

If so, it’ll be with a lineup featuring merely cosmetic changes, with Rafael Devers batting cleanup and Christian Vázquez at the bottom of the order. And in that case, let it be so. Plz, offense. Plz, everyone! Here are the lineups: